Takayuki Iizuka vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 3/15/89)

This is a handheld so the quality isn't the greatest but the match itself was very solid. Suzuki is already so slick here, maneuvering around the mat, and the sense of struggle throughout was great. Iizuka fighting for the snapmare, Suzuki working through various armbar setups and takedowns, Suzuki's selling of the leg as Iizuka goes after it in the second half. Of course, this all builds to Suzuki's eventual comeback with a sick high corner kick to the head, a big corner dropkick to the face, and some neat judo throws. They slap it out before Suzuki brings Iizuka down with the armbar takedown into armbar for the submission.

Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW, 4/24/89)

This was a one night tournament to crown the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with Vader and Shinya Hashimoto reaching the finals. Vader had already wrestled two matches at this point: the first against Masahiro Chono and then a tough semi-final match against Tatsumi Fujinami. Hashimoto, on the other hand, had already gone through Riki Choshu and Victor Zangiev (an awesome match). Hashimoto doesn't have time for Vader's hollering and smoke-spewing elephant head. He immediately goes after the injured arm of Vader, which Fujinami had worked earlier in the night. Vader does a good job initially of keeping the arm behind him but Hashimoto's able to snag it and Vader has to pop him with a spinning backhand. The tension between these two is pretty damn great and when Hashimoto lets loose with the kicks to the arm, Vader sells it terrifically. Vader does such a good job of playing the vulnerable monster in Japan who is scared (legitimately) of submission holds. Hashimoto works the double wristlock and he's able to avoid an avalanche in the corner to hit a few over-the-shoulder armbreakers to set-up the wristlock again. Vader bodyslams out of the hold, building some momentum, which includes a big dropkick, but when he goes up top, Hashimoto stops him with a spinning heel kick and once again goes back to the best shot he has at winning: that injured arm. But Vader is often able to clobber his way out of trouble and does so here, punching Hashimoto in the face and hitting two lariats, the second enough to score the win following an awkward hesitation by special guest ref, Lou Thesz, on the three count. A simple story of finding the dragon's weakness and exploiting it but in the end, the dragon eats the knight.

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW, 6/5/89)

Hot hot hot. Real hot.  Molten crowd + jerkface Jumbo + tenacious Tenryu = one of the greatest matches of the 1980's. Tenryu is ambitious righ tout of the gate, ducking the jumping knee and delivering the German suplex hold for two. Then Jumbo takes over, pounding away, putting the big boots to Tenryu and picking up some heat from the crowd. Tenryu's able to knock Jumbo out of the ring with a lariat and follows up with some nasty forearms, kicks, chops, before Jumbo suplexes him down and settles back into a headlock like a true fucking heel. Then he really starts ramping up his offense, building to the backdrop. He hits the jumping knee, a jumbo-sized lariat, a diving knee drop and he keeps dropping the knees but can't pin Tenryu down, even after a backdrop. The fans are lapping up these two counts like warm milk. The counterwork is really excellent from both dudes but especially Tenryu, as he hotshots Jumbo onto the ropes, sidesteps the corner jumping knee (sans kneepad) to hit an enziguri, and hooking the leg to prevent the suplex attempt. The whole finishing stretch is awesome, and when Tenryu finally hits the powerbomb for a nearfall, the place explodes. He's able to deliver the second powerbomb for the win but what a mountain to overcome in Jumbo.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Victor Zangiev (NJPW, 4/24/89)

Victor Zangiev, who looks more like a stereotyped Seinfeld character than the hulking Street Fighter, is pretty fucking awesome here, especially considering his lack of pro-wrestling experience. Between the cool shoot suplexes and practical but effective counters, Hashimoto sells him as a legitimate and unpredictable threat, which only adds to Zangiev's allure. Hashimoto's frustration builds throughout the match as Zangiev has answers to a lot of Hashimoto's offense, and when Hashimoto counters the armbar attempt with the headscissors, Zangiev performs a little dosey-doe to flip back out onto his feet, ready for the grapple. Great stuff. In the end, Hashimoto's finally able to keep him grounded with the leglock for the submission but for a sub-ten minute match, it doesn't get much better than this.

Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (AJPW, 12/6/89)

Oh boy, this tag match has it all: tons of hot saves, hot tags and a hot crowd, a heargeared Yatsu throwing suplexes, shitkicker Stan Hansen throwing his brisket-fed weight around, and the pissed off of Jumbo and Tenryu. All four guys really delivered here, putting in great performances. Oh, and Hansen going to retrieve Tenryu on the outside was a nice touch. They really bully Yatsu around, with Hansen removing the protective headgear to drive home the knees. Love how Hansen falls into his clobbering strikes. When Yatsu's finally gets some leverage on Tenryu, Tenryu's able to tug on the trunks to prevent Yatsu from getting too close to the ropes. He finally hits a German suplex and the fans are buzzing for the tag to Jumbo, who comes in fired the fuck up. Hansen takes a beating from Jumbo, selling the exhaustion on the irish whip before taking a backdrop, but the tide turns and Jumbo finds himself on the receiving end of some double teams.

On the outside, Yatsu's getting his head taped and makes it back just in time to break up a pin attempt in an awesome little moment. He busts open Hansen with a running bulldog on the exposed concrete and gets the hot tag from Jumbo, exacting some revenge on the Texan with plenty of headbutts. He hits another bulldog but Tenryu interferes, giving Yatsu some dirty kicks to the head while he's in there. Jumbo's had it and he starts beating the hell out of Tenryu in the corner and the crowd is lit! Yatsu and Hansen slap it out and Hansen catches him square in the grill with a kick but when Tenryu tries for an assisted enziguri, Yatsu ducks and Hansen gets caught. Jumbo hits a diving high knee but Tenryu's there to break up the cover and gets some cheap shots off on Jumbo. Amid all the chaos, Hansen finally hits his big ole lariat on Yatsu and when Jumbo tries to make the save, Tenryu grabs his trunks, allowing Hansen to score the pinfall. Awesome tag with a super hot final five minutes.

Bob Backlund vs. Masakatsu Funaki (UWF, 5/21/89)

Bob Backlund in Japan, in UWF specifically, is a riot. He’s such a goober -- such a pro-wrestling caricature as if Elmer Fudd was a former NCAA Champion. The way he sells Funaki’s kicks, whoa-ing and scuttling around. When Funaki cranks on the kneelock, Backlund casually bends Funaki’s leg and reverses the hold into a reverse Indian deathlock. He’ll fling Funaki off with this “gee, what’d I get myself into here?” expression on his face, only for Funaki to continue pelting him with kicks.  His takedowns are erratic and somewhat impulsive, the strike exchanges are chaotic between wild misses or hard wallops. No-nonsense Funaki is especially vicious with his feet, stomping his way out of holds and high kicking Backlund in the head. After Funaki grounds Backlund with an armbar takedown, Bob leg muscles up through the hold and sets Funaki on the top rope, seemingly pissing him off. Funaki then gets himself disqualified with a top rope dropkick, of course. What a show.

Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 9/20/89)

This felt more like a "greatest hits" montage, with some neat callbacks to their previous two matches, but never really finding its rhythm or structure. They go in and out of the junior prom stuff, working the mat in between, but the groundwork isn't nearly as important as their August match and serves more to fill in the gaps. There's a little bit of testiness from Liger early on with some of his kicks but it goes away and the final half is mostly exhibition, with tons of piledrivers, including an awesome jumping tombstone from Liger. Liger also suplexes Sano to the floor and hits that gnarly diving senton from the top rope to the outside! They tease the double dropkick spot, Sano's able to hit a German suplex hold but Liger counters the super backdrop finish from the second match. Liger's last ditch effort is a rounding body press but after Sano throws him off the top, he slips over into a tiger suplex hold for the clean victory and Liger still can't beat Sano. Solid match but not it didn't feel as personal between the two -- more of a "going through the motions" rematch.

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF, 8/13/89)

You've got the old guard of UWF dueling in a game of shoot-style chess. Fujiwara shows early on what happens when you back a grizzled dog into a corner, blasting Maeda's grill with some hard headbutts. When Maeda tries to sweep Fujiwara's leg, Yoshiaki smartly holds onto the ropes to maintain his balance. Maeda's strategy is straightforward: get Fujiwara into a corner and strike him down. As the match continues, you can really see the frustration mounting in Fujiwara, the way he slaps the canvas when he's forced to the ropes or the tired look on his face as he sits in the corner, biding his nine count. After Maeda dumps Fujiwara on his head with a backdrop suplex, he tries to grab the dazed Fujiwara in crossface chickenwing but he can't cinch it in. In a neat little counter, Fujiwara wrenches Maeda's ankle while he's in the bodyscissors and Maeda starts grasping for the ropes, the crowd buzzing. Fujiwara lays into Maeda with some bodyshots against the ropes but he's exhausted, collapsing into Maeda with headbutts as Maeda tumbles out of the ring. With the tank empty, Fujiwara keeps falling to Maeda's kicks in the corner and the referee calls the match, awarding Maeda the TKO victory. Fujiwara's performance in this match was fantastic and he really had my sympathy there at the end.

Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 8/10/89)

This may very well be my favorite example of limb selling in a match, if anything within a junior heavyweight match, where the high spots often take priority over sustained selling. I mean, you got Jushin "Thunder" Liger wearing fucking American football shoulder pads to protect the shoulder but Naoki Sano doesn't let deter him. If anything, it's a giant target on Liger -- like, hey Sano, I'm hurt, please don't attack me here. Sano goes after the arm early on, pissing off Liger, who annihilates him with a rolling koppou kick. But when Sano gets a hold of it, he really does a number on the arm, kicking and stomping and stretching it to make Liger his (rarely seen) bitch. Liger essentially wrestles this match single-armed, the injured one hanging limp at his side. He tries to lock up but Sano overpowers him. When he tries for the surfboard, he has to switch things up to a leg scissored armbar before...well, his arm is jacked. In perhaps my favorite moment of the match, Sano whips the arm and it's sold beautifully by Liger...just the way it drags along the canvas as he crawls. Awesome.

Liger's finally able to turn the tide with a very conscientious top rope suplex to the apron and a follow-up plancha. He sidesteps Sano's dive and Sano crashes, giving Liger some much needed time to rest up. When Sano returns to the ring, he's bloodied up and Liger smells it, attacking him with boots and at one point, kicking Sano in the face. He delivers a quasi-Gotch-style piledriver and then piledrives Sano on the floor because he's Liger. Again, he uses his recovery time wisely and continues to target Sano's neck. Sano's able to snag the arm a few times with armbars but Liger's able to make it to the ropes. When Liger tries for the brainbuster, Sano again takes him down with the wakigatame, forcing Jushin back to the ropes. Assuming Liger ain't tapping, Sano hits a German suplex hold and when that doesn't do the trick, he hits a super backdrop for the win. A fantastic match and perhaps the shining example of how you can make sustained limb selling compelling from start to finish. Liger really is the best junior heavyweight.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Shigeo Miyato (UWF, 8/13/89), vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 10/25/89)

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Shigeo Miyato (UWF, 8/13/89)

Ahh, a fresh-faced Kiyoshi Tamura, ready to rock the shoot-style world...almost. He needs to get rocked a few times first. Miyato played the aggressor here and kept on him with kicks and groundwork, forcing Tamura back to the ropes. He dumps Tamura on his head with a backdrop suplex and Tamura's selling hard but the fight's still in him. Miyato keeps shutting him down with strikes, hitting solebutt, a high kick and hard knees to keep him down for the TKO win.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 10/25/89)

This was a little over two minutes and it ruled. Tamura isn't kidding around this time and barrages Maeda with open-hands in the corner. Maeda's able to trip him up and goes after the leg but Tamura is quick to the ropes. Then Maeda decides playtime is over and starts destroying Tamura's face with some Muay Thai knees. He nonchalantly blocks Tamura's desperation dropkick and continues kneeing him until the referee calls the match. Oh well...better luck next year.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF, 10/25/89)

What a swanky little contest that really made the rope break/downs system engaging. The sense of struggle between this two was terrific as they vied for submission opening and fought for takedowns, sometimes in desperation. Once again, Fujiwara's bony old man head is a major factor in this match and early on, he lunges in with a nasty headbutt and Takada collapses to the canvas, even with Fujiwara holding onto him. Takada's kicks are his weapons of choice and he keeps chopping out the legs of Fujiwara to keep him down. At one point, Fujiwara executes a fantastic kneebar takedown but Takada is able to slip out into a single leg crab hold to force him to the ropes. Fujiwara's selling post-single leg crab is fantastic. Takada is again able to take him out at the leg and Fujiwara fires up with some big slaps and the two unload on each other in the corner. Fujiwara cranks on a crossface to force Takada to the ropes but Takada again comes back with the kicks and the two start racking up the downs between the kicks, the headbutts, the slaps and the punches. Fujiwara manages on last exhausted headbutt to even the score but in the end, Takada takes him out in beautifully dominant fashion, rocking him with hard sweeps and sweeping the leg to score the TKO victory. Loved this.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWF, 6/14/89)

This wasn't quite the jam Funaki's bout with Nakano was but this was decent, with plenty of wild and loose strikes from both sides. There was some slop to this match but Funaki had some cool takedowns, including a nasty reverse cravate and the double arm suplex into the butterfly lock. The most compelling stuff came during Anjoh's legwork, which was sold well by Funaki and had Anjoh circling with kicks like a shark in bloody waters. Funaki gets a little revenge with some big spinning back kicks but when he tries to finish Anjoh off with a German suplex, Anjoh snags an arm and takes him down with the double wristlock for the submission win. Not bad but the most engaging match.

Atsushi Onita vs. Masashi Aoyagi (FMW, 10/6/89)

Anytime Atsushi Onita is involved in something, chaos ensues. The same goes for the so-called "Different Style Fights" and this was no different, taking place on the inaugural FMW show. Onita is such a little shit in this match, only gaining some sort of advantage by cheap shotting Masashi Aoyagi. He attacks him from behind like a coward, avoiding most of Aoyagi's kicks and managing a few takedowns and outlasting the first round with a single leg crab hold. Aoyagi exacts his sweet revenge in the second round, knocking Onita out of the ring with his big flurry of karate kicks. Onita keeps getting pummeled into the corner and when the referee intervenes, Onita takes advantage and clobbers Aoyagi with a lariat.

There are plenty of cheapshots in the ropes and even Aoyagi doesn't care anymore and he's just putting the kicks to the grounded Onita. Onita firs off a backdrop, Aoyagi responds with a koppou kick. The Gi comes off and after Aoyagi spin kicks Onita out of the ring, he follows him out, taking the fight to Onita's familiar grounds, and he comes back busted open. The last few minutes of the match see Onita just getting destroyed by kicks in the ring. Whenever he's able to get up, he's stumbling, hanging onto the ref, before Aoyagi shuts him down again. After Aoyagi takes him out with a big kneel kick, the towel's thrown in and Aoyagi wins via TKO...but Onita ain't happy about it. A wacky, wild clash of styles and Onita being the scummy, low blowing Onita we've all come to love.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 7/24/89)

This was more of a methodically-paced defensive contest, with both guys wary of strikes, backing into corners and trying to wear each other out on the canvas. It may not be as "exciting" as other UWF bouts but it's worked smartly. The don Fujiwara lets Yamazaki know just how hard his forehead is early on as he lunges in with a headbutt during a lock up. Yamazaki's able to avoid some of Fujiwara's signature offense but he can't manage any traction either. They try to chop each other down with kicks but in a nice move, Yamazaki holds onto Fujiwara's legs to prevent the down. Yamazaki misses a lot of his big kicks and at times, it appeared as though he was holding back. But Fujiwara, as always, is an absolute joy to watch in the ring.

When he's got Yamazaki in a leglock, he holds on through Kazuo's kicking. When he catches a foot against the ropes, he hangs on and turns it into a fisherman suplex, not letting go upon impact. When Yamazaki tries for a sleeper hold, Fujiwara snatches a foot and twists, then grabs the other and does the same thing. He dodges a solebutt attempt and curtsies. A lot of the knock downs come from body shots in the corner or against the ropes and there's quite a bit of back-and-forth legwork. They spice things up in the final few minutes as they trade punches, slaps, kicks, with Fujiwara sandbagging after he eats Yamazaki's knee. Yamazaki's able to deliver the German suplex hold but he can't maintain the bridge as he's wore the fuck out. He signs his own death certificate when he headbutts Fujiwara because...well, Fujiwara is going to headbutt you right back and after he conks him with one, he picks up the TKO victory. A differently worked/paced match but still a pleasure, thanks to Fujiwara's appeal.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWF, 7/24/89)

Holy shit, this ruled and when it comes to hate in wrestling, this is a prime, heated example. Funaki, sporting quite the Jheri curl, tries to be cordial with a handshake but Nakano ain't having it and away we go. The crowd's nuts for these two beating the shit out of each other. Funaki keeps trying to land knees and Nakano is going after the leg and whenever he gets him on the ground, Funaki smacks him repeatedly until he lets go. When Nakano catches a foot and tries for the dragon screw legwhip, Funaki blocks it and busts him open with a hard slap. Yikes. Funaki's downright nasty in this match with his little punt kicks and shoot headbutts. At one point, Nakano's draining blood and they have to halt the match to check on him but he's a fighter and by gawd, he's gonna fight.

He gets some revenge on Funaki with his own slaps and punt kicks -- Funaki's selling off one of the kicks is amazing. Nakano delivers a beautiful half hatch suplex into the double wristlock but when he goes after the leg again with a takedown attempt, he pays for it with more stomps to the head. Funaki hits a funky armtrap side German suplex (no idea, if somebody knows what this is called, please @ me). After Nakano breaks a single leg crab, they almost call the match because of Nakano's bleeding but no way, Jose, Nakano's still in it and he knocks down Funaki with a pair of big boy kicks. He spikes Funaki with a snap suplex and Funaki comes at him with a maelstrom of strikes, but Nakano keeps knocking him down. He hits a German suplex and goes into a single leg crab of his own but Funaki escapes. In the end, Funaki slams him down Alabama-style and puts on a badass crab hold to submit Nakano. If you like pissy violence and Funaki being a bad motherfucker, watch this match.

Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 7/13/89)

Late 80's "God Beast" mode Jushin Liger is one scary motherfucker. The OG mask was creepy enough but this one is straight out of a horror movie. Naoki Sano's jacked and ready to show off his stuff. This was a super duper juniors exhibition, with lots of slick back-and-forth mat-tastics and a bubbling aggression that didn't quite pop. Instead, they unload almost all of their offense and it's pretty great. Liger drops a boss diving elbow, suplexes Sano from inside the ring and drops him to the ground, and then follows that up with a fucking somersault senton from the top rope to the floor like he's 2017 KUSHIDA. Not to be outdone, Sano rallies back with lots of kick variations and he goes up top and uh, maybe slips or maybe kicks Liger on the floor. Some of Sano's stuff isn't as squeaky clean as in later matches but he's trying everything, hitting a German suplex hold and a dope arm trap suplex floatover for a two count. They both collapse on the top rope backdrop attempt and the match ends on a double KO. Weird finish but it works and sets up the subsequent rematch.